Folding shelf display

ABSTRACT

A presentation display for use in displaying products, samples, premiums or the like comprises a center panel, a left tray, and a right tray wherein the center panel is hingedly attached to the left tray on one side and hingedly attached to the center panel on an opposite side such that the display can easily pivot between an open and closed position, whereby the closed position eliminates all non-product space and increases shipping efficiency to 100%. The presentation display is made from three pieces of paperboard or like flexible material and has a compact shipping or storage position that folds out to a larger open or presentation position.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority benefit of a U.S. Provisional Application, Ser. No. 60/923,209 filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Apr. 13, 2007, and entitled “Folding shelf display”.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to retail shelf displays. It further relates to a highly shipping efficient, pre-packed with product and promotional messaging, retail shelf display structure that easily and quickly installs on the retail shelf right from the shipping container.

Many marketers are challenged with the need to create pre-packed displays that are easy to set up and meet stringent size constraints set by retails stores. Wal-Mart has named and made the PDQ (Pretty Darn Quick) tray a standard in the industry (FIGS. 21 & 22). These trays are usually 20, 24, 30, 36 and 48 inches in length, usually 10 to 14 inches in width and approximately 10 to 14 inches tall. These trays are found on store shelves and on promotional and seasonal display racks. The PDQ tray has become popular with most retailers because it is shelf-ready, and a store associate needs only to take the PDQ tray display out of the shipping container and place it on the shelf without having to handle the products contained within the tray. Many of these PDQ displays contain “Ad Panels” inside of the trays. An “Ad Panel” is a paperboard insert placed within the tray which contains promotional or informational messaging. Upon close examination you find that behind the “Ad Panels” is empty space. Depending on the display, the space take up by the “Ad Panel” may be between 10%-50% of the available space in the display. There are many reasons marketers use “Ad Panels” in their tray displays. Many products require information prior to purchase, marketers use this space to entice consumers with promotional or sales messages to help sell through the products presented in a PDQ tray. Another, less obvious, reason is that retailers insist that all the displays are uniform in size, so if your display does not require as much space as you are allotted on the shelf, often your only choice is to create a large “Ad Panel” to make up the extra space in your tray display.

Even though many displays will need an “Ad Panel” to help market the products, there is more and more pressure on vendors to deliver their products to retailers more efficiently than ever before. Wal-Mart in 2007 introduced a waste reduction effort that requires the cooperation of all vendors to become accountable for reducing waste in their packaging and displays. This sets the tone for the future, where all vendors will be looking for ways to reduce packaging and display production waste as well as ways in which they can ship products more efficiently to the retainers, reducing the amount of trucks needed to deliver the order, which reduces the amount of fuel needed to accomplish the same, and which in turn reduces the amount of CO2 emissions. Wal-Mart's stated goal is to reduce emissions by 667,000 metric tons per year within five years. To do this they are instituting a waste reduction score card system for vendors that will rate each display shipped to Wal-Mart according to how well it scores across seven environmental and waste reduction measurements. Two such measurements are cube utilization and transport. That means the more efficient your shipment is, the better your score. Shipping less “air” and stacking more displays per pallet becomes very desirable, as this will enable you to ship more displays in less trucks requiring less fuel thereby releasing less CO2 emissions into the environment.

Description of the Prior Art

The traditional PDQ display shown in FIGS. 21 & 22 is the style of display used by most marketers today. The traditional single tray solution is well designed to hold products, and when necessary an “Ad Panel” may be added to complete the presentation. Unfortunately, because of its structure it is not a very efficient display to ship when there is an “Ad Panel” because of the empty space behind the “Ad Panel” that travels as part of the display.

Alliance Display, a division of Rock Tenn Corp. makes the Max PDQ which is a display designed to hold light products. It is a largely flat tray design measuring the length of traditional PDQ trays, with side wings that are folded during shipping yet set up in such a way as to hold up the tray at an angle when the display is set up, making it look substantially larger, that how its ships. The drawback is that this tray display is not designed to hold heavy products, or full trays, and as such is used primarily for displays that hold minimal amount of products.

Another display, the ECO-PDQ is a product of Henschel-Steinau and also offers a solution that ships small and sets up larger. This structure is a box within a box concept. It is designed with an outer sleeve that acts as a header, and inner tray that slides out to display the products being marketed. Unfortunately this structure has the limitation that tray may be placed on the shelf without the inner tray ever being pulled out by the store associate, or the outer sleeve may be pulled completely off and discarded.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Against the foregoing background, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a shelf display that has a compact shipping or storage position and expands to a larger open position featuring a center panel (“Ad Panel”) which may be used for promotional or information messaging.

It is another object of the invention to provide a universal display structure that always has two trays connected by a center panel. The difference in the displays would be in the size of the center panel, the sizes of the trays, the length, width and height of the display, the amount of weight that display would hold, however, all in all the basic construction of the display would be made from three parts including two trays and an interlocking center panel. This familiar construction would be easy to repurpose, easy to design, manufacture, assemble and pack-out.

It is another object of the invention to make it appealing for use where licensed images are used as there are many opportunities to create clever die cuts, and many places to place graphics to decorate the display.

It is another object of the invention, to reduce the number of dies required to produce the display. This display requires two dies, and in some instances a single die using a single sheet of material may be used to create the complete display. This is done by making a single tray with center panel slots on both sides so that the same tray may serve as a right or left tray, and producing the center panel and even a tray insert (if required) on the same die.

It is further the intent of the inventor to provide a display that may be easily modified to maintain the same overall display while having different sized trays and center panels. This is accomplished by adjusting the lengths of the trays and the length of the center panel so as not to alter the overall length of the display and to allow the trays, when folded, to be next to each other in a compact way for shipping and storage purposes.

Yet another object of the inventor is to make the calculation to determine the placement of the center panel and the length of the center panel easy.

It is yet still another object of the invention, to provide a display that is considered a one piece display requiring no assembly of parts at store level, for easy portability and set up.

It is another object of the invention, to provide a display that may be completely assembled and easily stored in a substantially flat profile for future shipment.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a display with an “open” look and feel with a wide viewing angle.

It is yet another object of the current invention to provide a display that may have interesting shapes other than a linear or straight display, simply by modifying the center panel in such a way that when the center panel is locked into the trays the set up tray may be fixed in various angled and interesting positions.

It is yet another object of the invention to allow for hooks instead of shelves to hold the product in place such as hanging from a wall or rack.

It is yet another object of the invention to use the same basic construction when created without shelves to form a “dual container gravity feed display”.

It is another object of the invention to make the invention from paperboard, plastic or any other suitable material.

To the accomplishments of the foregoing objects and the advantages of the present invention in brief summary comprises a flexible paperboard, plastic or other suitable flexible material that can be die-cut and folded, and attached, by glue, tuck flaps or other suitable fastening means, so that when the structure is set up, it features two trays or containers, separated by a center panel, that may be used to display “selling” or “informational” messages. The structure of the left and right trays is such that the trays may be rotated in such a way that they will nest nearly in front of or behind the center panel (Ad Panel”) for compact shipping or storage purposes, eliminating the “air” usually found behind traditional “Ad Panel” inserts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and still other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the detailed explanation of the preferred embodiments of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A & 1B is a plan view of the Folding Shelf Display comprising a universal tray, center panel and tray insert;

FIG. 2 is a perspective flat view of the universal tray or shelf. The same structure may be used as a right or left tray;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a partially assembled universal tray;

FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the universal tray mostly assembled;

FIG. 4B is a perspective view of the center panel;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the universal tray with the center panel partially inserted;

FIG. 6 is a perspective top view where the center panel is fully attached to the left tray, and partially attached to the right tray;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the Folding Shelf Display in a folded state ideal for storage or shipping;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the Folding Shelf Display transforming from a folded state to an open state for presentation;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the Folding Shelf Display fully transformed into an open state for presentation;

FIG. 10 is a top view showing the Folding “Shelf Display fully transformed into an open state for presentation;

FIG. 11 is a top view showing the Folding Shelf Display fully folded with trays folded in front of the center panel;

FIG. 12 is a top view showing the Folding Shelf Display fully folded with the trays folded in back of the center panel;

FIG. 13 is a copy view of the Folding Shelf Display with the center panel attached nearer to the front of the display;

FIG. 14 is a top view of FIG. 13 with the trays folded in front of the center panel for shipping or storage;

FIG. 15 is a top view of the invention with the center panel attached towards the rear of the display;

FIG. 16 is a top view of FIG. 15 with the trays folded in back of the center panel for shipping or storage;

FIG. 17 is a top view of FIG. 18 with the trays folded in front of the center panel for shipping or storage;

FIG. 18 is a top view of Folding Shelf Display that is the same length as one shown in FIG. 19 except it has longer trays and a substantially narrower center panel;

FIG. 19 is a top view of Folding Shelf Display that is the same length as one shown in FIG. 18 except it has shorter trays and a substantially wider center panel;

FIG. 20 is a top view of FIG. 19 with the trays folded in front of the center panel for shipping or storage;

FIG. 21 is a perspective front view of a traditional PDQ tray display with an ad panel located essentially in the center of the display;

FIG. 22 is a perspective front view of a traditional PDQ tray display with an ad panel located essentially on the side of the display; and

FIG. 23 is a perspective front view of fully formed Folding Shelf Display where the trays are replaced by box structures with openings for product access.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings and, in particular to FIG. 7, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 thereof the Folding Shelf Display 10 of the present invention is provided in various positions and referred to generally by left tray 12, right tray 14, and center panel 200. Left tray 12, right tray 14, and center panel 200 are preferably made from paperboard and die cut and scored in such a way that they may be folded to form the display structure 10 that has a folded position for shipping and storage (FIG. 7) and an open position for presentation (FIG. 9).

Trays 12 and 14 can hold product for retail display, while the center panel 200 serves as an “Ad Panel” containing promotional or educational information about the products being displayed. The display 10 is made in such a way that the empty space 127 (see FIG. 13) found behind the center panel 200 which is prominently visible during the open position shown in FIGS. 9 & 13, is eliminated during shipping or storage as shown in FIGS. 7 & 14 making the display 10 more efficient to store or ship and yet the center panel 200 opens to prominently feature a message when the display is in an open or presentation state. It is further the intent of the inventor to make this display from paperboard, plastic or any other suitable material that is flexible and easy to work with using conventional converting equipment.

FIGS. 1A & 1B shows a single universal tray 100, center panel 200 and shelf insert 300. Note panel 301 of shelf insert 300 intersects panel 111 of universal tray 100. This layout is accomplished in order to conserve resources and use a smaller sheet of paperboard in the process of manufacturing. The cutout 301 from panel 111 will not affect the functionality of the tray.

In the preferred embodiment the universal tray 100 can be made into either a left tray 12 or a right 14 tray. Each tray 100 is constructed of paperboard and starts flat as shown in FIG. 2 and then are folded as shown in FIGS. 3 & 4. FIG. 2 shows a universal tray 100 that may serve as either the left 12 or right tray 14. In order to lock in the center panel 200 to the left tray 12, slots 115 and 117 are needed to receive center panel tabs 202 & 207 respectively. In order to lock the center panel 200 into the right tray 14, slots 114 and 116 are needed to receive center panel tabs 204 & 206 respectively. By having one universal tray 100 with both sets of slots 114, 115, 116 & 117, then one only needs two identical copies of the exact same tray 100 plus the center panel 200 to complete one full display 10. This will require less production, less set up time and will yield less waste.

The inventor contemplates however that there may be advantages in certain instances to have a separate right tray 14 with only slots 116 and 114 and a separate left tray 12 with only slots 115 and 117, such as those instances when each tray will contain different graphics. This can also be manufactured from a single die as long as both surfaces of the paperboard were similar because the die cut for the left tray 12 is the same as the die cut for the right tray 14, if you flip one over. That is, the die cut of the left tray 12 with only one pair of slots 115, 117 is the mirror image of the die cut of the right tray 14 with slots 114, 116.

FIG. 4A shows left tray 12 mostly assembled and ready to accept center panel 200 into slot 115. To insert the center panel 200 into slot 115, fold tab 201 on center panel to the front or to the back of tab 202 on score 208, slide the tab 202 into the slot 115, and once inside slot 115 tab 201 will unfold and will prevent the center panel 200 from disengaging from left tray 12. Panel 101 is then folded down and locked inside the tray trapping tab 202 between panels 105 and 101.

FIG. 6 shows the center panel 200 being inserted into slot 114 of right tray 14. Tab 203 is shown in the up and locked position and tab 204 is well inside the right tray 14. Tabs 203 and 204 are pushed flat against panel 107 and panel 103 is lowered and locked inside right tray 14 holding the center panel 200 securely in place. Once tabs 202 and 204 of center panel 200 are inserted into both left 12 and right trays 14 respectively, center panel flap 207 is inserted into slot 117 of the left tray 12 and flap 206 is inserted into slot 116 of right tray 14. The flaps slide into the trays 12 & 14 until they are in a locked position making the trays 12 & 14 and the center panel 200 aligned facing forward as shown in FIG. 9. It is important to note that although in the preferred embodiment the method of attachment of the center panel 200 to trays 12 & 14 are by way of a tab structure, that glue, tape, snaps, hook and loop and other well known means of attachment may also be used.

Assuming the depth or height of the display 10 is equal; the following will demonstrate the dramatic difference in overall size of the open and closed positions of the Folding Shelf Display. FIG. 10 shows the front length 124 of the left tray 12, and the front length 126 of the right tray 14 and the length of the center panel 200 to be equal to each other and also equal to the width 122 of the left tray 12 and the width 121 of right tray 14. It obvious from FIG. 10 that the total space that the display takes up when it is in the open position is dramatically greater than when the trays 12 & 14 are folded behind the center panel 200 as shown in FIG. 12 or in front of center panel 200 as shown in FIG. 11. In this example the folded display in FIG. 11 requires approximately one third less space than the open display shown in FIG. 10. The reasons for this is that the space 130 in back of the center panel 200 and the space 131 in front of center panel 200 are eliminated when the trays are rotated from the open or display position shown in FIG. 10 to the closed or shipping/storage position shown in FIGS. 11 & 12. In FIG. 11, the fronts 124 and 126 are adjacent to each other, or the backs 125 and 120 are adjacent to each other as shown in FIG. 12. When the backs 120 and 125 are adjacent to each other a cutout 20 & 22 may be made in panels 102 & 106 to serve as a handle (see FIG. 1A) for picking up and moving the display.

The inventor contemplates that the length X of center panel 200 needs to be slightly larger than the sum of the lengths 140 and 141 (FIG. 13), (wherein X=2 times Y where Y is the distance from the hinge points 30 & 32 to the corner edges of the trays 34 & 36 that will fold towards each other in the closed position). When the trays 12 & 14 fold in front of the center panel 200 as in FIG. 14, or larger than the lengths 142 and 143 (FIG. 15) when the trays fold to the rear of the center panel 200 as shown in FIG. 16. If the sum of lengths 140 and 141 or 142 and 143 are larger than that of the center panel, the trays will not fold or nest nearly behind or in front of the center panel 200, and if they are much shorter than the length of the center panel then there will be a gap between trays 12 and 14 leaving the display unstable during shipping, and requiring a separate stabilizing insert (not shown). So it is critical for the invention to work properly that the dimension of the trays 12 & 14 follow the formula X=2 times Y or that X is slightly greater than 2 times Y to accommodate material thicknesses. The object is that there is no space between the trays 12 & 14 in the closed/shipping storage position. X is the width of center panel 200 and Y is the distance from the hinge point 30 & 32 to the corner edges 34 & 36.

The following is an example of the calculation required to determine the position and length of the center panel when the tray dimensions change from one size to another (in this example for illustration purposes we are using absolute dimensions and not allowing for paper and folding tolerances, that if accounted for would slightly alter the dimension). FIG. 19 shows a folding shelf display 10 with an overall length in the open position of 30 inches where the center panel is approximately 10 inches and the length of each tray 124 and 126 are 10 inches. The width 150 of the tray is also 10 inches. The center panel is located approximately midway along the width 150 or approximately 5 inches in from the front or the rear of the display. FIG. 18 has increased the each tray length to 12.5 inches for an overall increase of 5 inches in combined tray lengths. To ensure that the overall length of the display stays at 30 inches, since the tray lengths have been increased by 5 inches the center panel length needs to be reduced by the same 5 inches so the overall length of the display will stay at 30 inches. If the center panel is reduced by 5 inches and remains in the same position along width 150, then even though the overall length will be 30 inches, the trays will not be able to rotate to rest neatly behind or in from of the center panel 200. In order to have the trays nest in the desired way, the hinge points 30 & 32 comprised of the slots 115 and 114 will need to move either 2.5 inches towards the front of the display or 2.5 inches towards the rear of the display. If the slots are moved towards the front of the display then the trays 12 & 14 will rotate and nest in front of the center panel as shown in FIG. 17, if the slots are moved towards the rear of the display then the trays 12 & 14 will rotate and nearly nest behind the center panel FIG. 16. In most instances it is preferred that the center panel is closer to the front of the display as so that the information contained within the center panel 200 is easily visible. The further back to the center panel sits along the width 150 the harder it is to see from the front of the display.

Retailers prefer standard sized displays, so many displays are often designed to keep the overall length of the display, in the open position, the same length although the amount of product in the display may require smaller or larger trays. Using the Folding Shelf Display structure 10, one may vary the size of the individual trays 12 & 14, without changing the overall length of the display 10 as previously discussed. FIG. 18 and FIG. 19 show displays of equal length L yet the trays 124 and 126 of FIG. 19 are considerably shorter in length than the trays 124 and 126 depicted in FIG. 18. The difference is made up in the length X of the center panel 200. FIG. 19 shows a substantially longer center panel 200 than FIG. 18. By moving the position of slots 114 and 115 along the length of 150 one may vary the length X of the center panel 200. Such that when the trays 12 & 14 are rotated as previously discussed they will rest in a nested way as shown in FIG. 17 and FIG. 20. Although the display 10 is most ideal when the trays 12 & 14 are substantially equal in size, it is the intent of the inventor to allow the trays 12 & 14 to be of different lengths to accommodate different size or volume of products. Additional and separate tray insert/shelf 300 may be placed inside the tray(s) 12 & 14 to better arrange the products being displayed.

The Folding Shelf Display 10 is most like traditional displays when both trays 12 & 14 and the center panel 200 are in the open position and in a straight line, however, it is the intent of the inventor to vary the size and shape of the center panel in such a way that when the trays 12 & 14 may be in a locked position and the overall display can take on more unusual and interesting shapes, such as an “L” or “corner” shape, or a “stadium” or “panorama” shape.

Referring now to FIG. 23 another embodiment is shown. The trays 12 & 14 have been replaced with fully formed containers 40 & 42 with openings 44 & 46 for products access. T 

1. A foldable display having a central panel structure having a folded and unfolded position, said central panel structure comprising a left tray, a right tray and a central panel, wherein said central panel structure further includes at least one die cut and at least one score so as to allow folding of said left tray, said right tray and said central panel into a complete three-dimensional display structure in said folded position.
 2. The foldable display of claim 1, wherein said central panel structure has a substantially flat profile in said unfolded position.
 3. The foldable display of claim 2, wherein said left tray and said right tray are fabricated independently and removable attached to said central panel.
 4. The foldable display of claim 3, wherein said left tray, said right tray and said central panel are manufactured from a flexible material.
 5. The foldable display of claim 4, wherein said flexible material is paperboard.
 6. The foldable display of claim 1, further including at least one shelf insert.
 7. A foldable display for presenting products and information to consumers in a retail environment comprising: a center panel having a length X; a left tray rotatably connected by a first hinge to the left side of said center panel; a right tray rotatably connected by a second hinge to the right side of said center panel; said trays each having a front surface, a rear surface and two side surfaces; each said tray able to move rotatably on its said respective hinge about said center panel between an open position and a closed position; said respective tray front surfaces being parallel to each other and to said center panel in said open position; and said respective tray front surfaces being parallel to each other and perpendicular to said center panel in said closed position.
 8. The foldable display of claim 7, further including said first hinge being located in the middle of a right side panel of said left tray; said second hinge being located in the middle of a left side panel of said right tray; and each said side panel of each said tray having a width equal to said center panel length X.
 9. The foldable display of claim 8, further including each said respective tray front surface having a length T_(L); said display having a length in said open position of 2 times T_(L)+X; and said display having a length in said closed position of 2 times X. 